Androgyne

Androgyne derives from two Greek words, but makes its first
appearance as a compound word in Rabbinic Judaism (see, e.g.,
Genesis Rabba 8.1; Leviticus Rabba 14.1), most probably as an
alternative to the Greek Pagan-related usage of hermaphrodite.

The Online Etymology
Dictionary dates its appearance in English to 1552, although it is
sometimes (wrongly) claimed to have been coined by Prof. Sandra Bem,
who helped to popularise the concept. An androgyne in terms of
gender identity, is a person who does not fit cleanly into the
typical masculine
and femininegender roles
of their society. They may also use the term ambigender to describe
themselves. Many androgynes identify as being mentally "between"
male and female, or as entirely genderless. They may class
themselves as non-gendered, agendered, between genders, Intergendered,
bigendered or,
genderfluid

Androgyne was once used as a
synonym for hermaphrodite, a term since replaced by the word
intersex.

Prof. Sandra Bem's work on
androgyny preceded the current widespread use of the term as a
gender identity, and uses the term more in terms of character
traits than core gender identity. She considers an androgyous
balance of traits to be desirable, stating that those who are able
to draw on both traditionally masculine and feminine emotions and
behaviours are best able to cope with life's challenges in a
well-rounded way.

Androgynous traits

Androgynous traits are those that either have no gender
value, or have some aspects generally attributed to the opposite
gender. Physiological
androgyny (compare intersex), which deals with
physical traits, is distinct from behavioral androgyny which deals
with personal and social anomalies in gender, and from
psychological
androgyny, which is a matter of gender
identity. A psychologically androgynous person is commonly
known as an androgyne
(and, less commonly, as a non-binary gender variant, or
intergendered), and there is a politicized version known as
genderqueer.

To say that a culture or
relationship is androgynous is to say that it lacks rigid gender roles
and that the people involved display characteristics or partake in
activities traditionally associated with the other gender. The term
androgynous is often used to refer to a person whose look or build
make determining their gender difficult but is generally not used
as a synonym for actual intersexuality, transgender or two-spirit
people. Occasionally, people who do not actually define themselves
as androgynes adapt their physical appearance to look androgynous.
This outward androgyny has been used as a fashion statement, and
some of the milder forms of it (women wearing men's trousers/men
wearing skirts, for example) are not perceived as transgendered
behavior.

Lesbians who don't
define themselves as butch or
femme may identify with various other labels including
androgynous or andro for short. A few other examples include
lipstick
lesbian, tomboy, and
'tom suay' which is Thai for
'beautiful butch'. Some lesbians reject gender
performativity labels altogether and resent their imposition by
others. Note that androgynous and butch are often considered
equivalent definitions, though less so in the butch/femme
scene.

A recently-coined word, often
used to refer to androgynes, is genderqueer. However, this
term can be used to refer to anyone who identifies as transgender, or even someone
who identifies as cisgender but whose behavior
falls outside the average standard gender norms. An androgyne may
be attracted to people of any gender, though many identify as
pansexual or asexual. Terms such as bisexual, heterosexual, and homosexual have less meaning
for androgynes who do not identify as male or female to begin with.
Infrequently the words gynephilia
and androphilia are used, which refer to the gender of the
person someone is attracted to, and do not imply any particular
gender on the part of the person who is feeling the
attraction.

Androgyny in culture

Literature

The character Desire
from the graphic novel series The
Sandman has physical characteristics of both sexes, and
maintains the gender balance among the character's three brothers
and three sisters. Furthermore, Desire is a hermaphrodite, shifting
genders often.

Saturday
Night Lives popular character
Pat, played by Julia Sweeney, was deliberately portrayed with
an indeterminate gender.

In Constantine,
the archangel Gabriel was
depicted as being sexless (as angels are usually thought as such)
although played by Tilda
Swinton, wearing a suit
in one scene while wearing genderless clothing in his-her next
appearance.

The movie Dogma
directed by Kevin Smith features angels which appeared to be male
(they are played by male actors, use the men's restroom, and are
frequently mistaken for human men) but are anatomically neuter, and
a muse played by Salma Hayek
who appears female (and works as a performer in a strip bar) but is
also anatomically neuter.

The character
Switch from The Matrix is
described as an androgyne in the screenplay, and it is rumored that
she was originally a man while still trapped in the Matrix and
switched genders after being freed and finding out her true
gender.

Music

The Visual Kei
movement often (but not always) includes an androgynous look in its
style.

For the cover of Marilyn
Manson's studio album, Mechanical
Animals, Marilyn
Manson donned prosthetic breasts (without nipples) and a bulge
where his penis would be, recalling both mannequins designed to
display men's wear and those designed to display women's
wear.

The English band Suede, well known,
not only for their music, but also for their quasi-androgynous
looks has physically androgynous members namely, Brett
Anderson, Richard
Oakes and Neil
Codling, who are often mistaken as women and/or homosexuals though they are
either bisexual (Brett Anderson) or straight.

The Japanese musician
Yoshiki
Hayashi had an androgynous appearance while his band X Japan still
pertained to the visual kei
movement, which often explores androgyny along with macabre or
eccentric themes.

Anime and manga

Androgynous characters are readily apparent in anime and manga, possibly due to the concept
of beautifully feminine boys known as bishōnen.
Also, transsexual or
crossdressing
characters are relatively common when compared to Western
media.

An example of this is in the
anime/manga series Saint Seiya
is the silver knight Lizard
Misty. While Misty is a male character his hairstyle makes him
look like he is feminine.Also, Haku
from Naruto
is presumed to be a girl, but it is later revealed that he is in
fact male. he is shown in one scene wearing a womens style kimono
and has a very feminine face.

Sage Harpuia from the Mega
Man Zero series is male, but his looks, voice, and name
(derived from Harpy, a Greek monster that is half-bird and
half-woman) have led some players to mistake him as
female.